When are the French presidential elections results 2022?

France is gearing up to elect its next president with current Elysee Palace resident Emmanuel Macron the frontrunner

Emmanuel Macron on the election trail in Paris on April 2. Bloomberg

Round two of the French presidential elections 2022 takes place on Sunday.

Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to repel the threat coming from far right, spearheaded once again by the redoubtable and resurgent Marine le Pen.

Elections of this nature are never fought with the gloves on, but this year's French elections have been particularly spicy, their temperature raised to boiling point by divisions over France's response to Covid-19, Islamic terrorism and - above all other considerations - economic inequality.

Here, The National gives the timeline of French presidential elections 2022 and explains how they work.

When are the French presidential election 2022 polls?

The first round of voting took place on April 10 and saw centrist Mr Macron take the lead with 27.6 per cent of the vote, while Ms Le Pen was second with 23.4 per cent — setting up a rematch of the run-off in 2017, which the current president won by a landslide.

The second round of voting is on April 24 before the winner is formally anointed on May 13.

How do the French presidential elections work?

The 12 candidates in the field for the 2022 French elections were announced on March 7.

To be enlisted on the first round of the presidential ballot by the Constitutional Council, 500 endorsements are needed from elected French politicians.

If one candidate gets than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round, then he or she automatically wins the contest.

If no single candidate reaches this threshold in round one, the two candidates with the most votes progress to a final round of voting.

France election campaigns – in pictures